Sports Roundup

Having lost to Coventry’s first team in three tight games this season, the University of Warwick Men’s Second XI team, went into their Varsity match eager to strike some revenge. A game earlier in the season saw a last minute goal from Coventry rob Warwick of a place in the Midlands BUCS semi-finals and there was a notable tension in the air. With the knowledge that this year’s Varsity was sizing up to be a close one, the pressure was high.

The game started at a frantic pace with the Warwick midfield passing the ball with a lot of confidence. A goal within ten minutes from Glenn Humphries got the ball rolling as captain Tom Lambert struck home a second for Warwick.

The pressure was getting to Coventry’s back four and so Warwick pressed on with Glenn Humphries adding to his goal tally and establishing a 3-0 lead at half-time.

The second half was markedly less exciting as Coventry tried to save face by packing their goal line with players in order to keep the score down. A further goal from Gary Lam though sealed a 4-0 win for the 2s who were sandwiched between an overwhelming 11-0 win for the 3rd team and a hard fought but deserved 2-1 win for the Firsts.

The development of hockey has been impressive in recent years shown also by the ladies’ teams who also recorded clean sweep victorie, with a 5-0 win.

*Tom Lambert*

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Warwick University third XI 11 Coventry University 0. The day’s aims were simple. Do not concede. Do not get anyone sent off.

Score as many as possible. Eleven goals sounds like a thrashing, but considering the score was only 2-0 at half time, the margin should have been far greater. Firstly I would like to point out that the game was a bit of a farce. Coventry can hardly call the XI who took to the field a team, and because of this the quality

suffered.

A few of them were intent on causing physical damage to the ‘fair weather’ players in our team, and apparently they were also dealing out banter all match long, though I must admit I missed it.

Regardless of Coventry’s tactics, we played fleeting periods of fast flowing, expansive hockey, Lewis Tutssel bagging four goals and the likes of Rob Ellis and Carl Pugh carving large holes through the Coventry defence at will. And I mean at

will.

The Coventry goalie admitted afterwards he had had the game of his life to play in the first half. Warwick’s quality shone through in the second half.

This was just one of the five comprehensive Warwick victories on Varsity Day. Hopefully next year’s contest can be more competitive and give us a bit more value for our win. Overall, this proved to be a tremendous season for the Hockey club.

Jack Kelly

University of Warwick archer Jorge Lindley recorded an impressive personal best score to beat over one hundred competitors and take home the bronze medal in the novice Gents recurve category from the BUCS Championships in Sheffield.

The indoor archery competition took place at Sheffield United FC’s Academy as part of the BUCS Championship weekend.

As Warwick were shooting in the third and final session of the day, our archers had to overcome the unusual predicament of darkness descending upon us in a venue with minimal artificial lighting.

This in turn resulted in the target, twenty yards away from the shooting line and becoming increasingly difficult to see as time went by.

In spite of this, Lindley’s shooting remained consistent as he recorded a score of 529 over the sixty arrows of the ‘Portsmouth’ round used for the competition – only nine points away from the top score in the category, which had been shot in full daylight.

Lindley’s score, the best by a Warwick novice since 2006, was also high enough to give him a place in the four-man senior team, which also included Matt Dale (fifth individually), Andrew Shreeves and David Barnes. They finished in a respectable seventh place out of forty teams.

Following on from this, Lindley also won gold medals in both the indoor and outdoor competitions at the annual Isle of Man Student Festival of Sports, with novices Michaela Bruntraeger and Alan Dawson also collecting medals at the

event.

Congratulations must go to everyone who has been successful indoors. We are looking to build on this success as we move on to the outdoor season.

Christopher Guerin